Striping apparatus for circular hosiery machines



Aug. 7, 1928.

Filed March 9, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet l Ebrtutrmto New eu Aug. 7, 1928.

F. NEVEUX STRIPING APPWTUS FOR CIRCULAR HOSIERY MACHINES Filed Marc 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 gn'ucnfoc 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 9, 1923 Aug. 7, 1928.

Aug. 7, 1928. 1,679,680

F. NEVEUX STRIPING APPARATUS FOR CIRCULAR HOSIERY MACHINES Filed March 9, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 J C n Patented Aug. 7, 1928.

UNITED STATES.

ronromiro mzvaox, or lemon, ITALY, ASSIGNOR To 0. n. I. it.

ENT; O FI 7 CANICA INDUS'IBIA MAGIJERIA, OF TUBIN, ITALY, COMPANY.

srmrme inmmron cmcuaaanosmmr memes Application filed March B, 1923, Serial No. 624,005, and in Italy Iarch17,'1 922.

This invention relates tohosiery knitting machines of the French circular type, and has for its object to provide a device which will be able to make striped hosiery in two colors.

This device has been particularly provided for circular knitting machines with nonspeed.

According to this invention, the yarnchanging evice comprises two pairs of shears, one of which brings the inoperative yarn to the needles and retires, while the other cuts the operative yarn and retains it,

the respective functions of'the shears being reversed on the next change of yarn.

Automatic means are provided for independently advancing and opening andclosmg the shears and causin them simulta neously to move backwar and exchange places, and for preventing both yarns being cut at one time by the shears.

In the annexed drawings, forming part of this specification, an embodiment of striping device is shown, by way of example.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the entire yarn-changing attachment-to be applied to a circular knitting machines.

2 shows the details of a cam which operates to shift the yarn-shears to insert the new yarn and remove the old. r

Fig. 3 shows the details'of one of the yarnshears.

Fig. 4 is'a operatingcam.

Fig. 4 and are views showing the'various v a sidewise pro ecting arm e bearing a pin f.

operating positions of the shears.-

" Fig. 5 is'a transverse sectional view of onev g I I a Fig.6, as to be able to cut a yawn between of the shears. p v

Figs. 6 and 7 diagrammatically show a front view and a horizontal view of a ortion of the circular hosiery knitting mac ine for the sake of clearness.

in cylindrical paralle sition I'Figg which rods are guide-pins 6 sliding in slots 7 Fig. 1 in the.

diagram showing the operative relation between the yarn-shears and the (of -usual.forn i) ',ito which, thestriping a I paratus of my invention is shown as applie some structural details having been omitted orncnra imo- Referring, first, to Fig. 1, the a paratus comprises two pairs of cutting an clamping shears 1, 2, radially arranged with respect-t0 the knitting machine and slidable boxes 3, 4, rigidly con nected. to each othera short distance apart.- When'it is-rutu in the hosiery .1 e changed for yarn o a different color or quality, the shears 1. (which. we will assume to-bethe foremostin' the direction ofrotat on of the knitting machine) are'so arranged, as shown in Fig. land po- 4, as to move toward the needle row in the nittingmachine, and enter upon the needles the end of an ino erative yarn held between the clamping-bla es of the cutting and clamping device. Meanwhile, as soon .as the shears 1' shall have completed gleir forward movement and the free end of caug shears? (which have been 0 en during the period of such movements 0 the shears 1 will spring forward,'in their turn, andsu lyl'arnzcarried thereby-.Ishall have been -ired that the workin yarn t by the blades'of the loop-wheel, the v denly close,thus cutting the activeyarnand clampin its free end;

Both's ears,to perform the operations described, are slidably "fitted, as above stated, in the respective boxes3 and J4. Springs 5, Fig. 3, tend to 'force the shears forward, said "springs bein inner ends of the boxes and the rear ends of. the supporting-rods of the. shear-blades,"

ided within the boxes by;

OXBS.

compressed between the Referring, now, to Figs. 3 and 5, each of I the shears comprises three blades 11., b, c;

the blades b andcbeing fixed to the supporting-rod or slide, whereof they are extensions, while the blade a is pivotally mounted and b.'"

d between the blades b and c to oscillate upon During the operation before described, the closing ofthe shears 2. is effected by their pin 2 impinging against a fixed stop 8.

As soon as both of said operations are completed, both shears will gradually be drawn back out of operative relation to the r Fig. 3, say a position like the initial position of blade '2" of the shears 2, as shown in Fig. 1.

The shears, with their boxes rigidly connected to each other, are soarranged as to be able to turn about a common axis on the axis of shaft 9, radially arranged with respect to theknitting-machine. As soon as said shears are fully returned to rearmost position within the boxes, the latter will rotate 180 around said shaft, in such manner that the shears 2, retaining the free end of a yarn between their blades, as well as the shears 1, being provided with no thread, will exchange places or positions, .so as to be ready for the next operation, in the same manner as has been described.

The forward movement of each of the shears independently of the other, and their simultaneous return are obtained and con trolled by a cylindrical helical cam 10 (Fig. 2), upon the helical edges 11 and 12 whereof slide the pins 6, preferably provided with anti-friction rollers. It Wlll e understood that the longitudinal steps 13 and 14, not being diametrically opposite each other, .will allow one of the corres onding shears to snap forward a little in a vance of the other.

he operation of both shears will be more clearly understood by reference to Fig. 4, showing'the cylindrical helical cam 10 developed in a plane. The direction of rotation of said cam is shown b the arrow.

The shears are: shown in full ines in their initial osit-ion, indicated by the Roman numera' I, additional positions being shown in dash and dot lines and indicated by further Roman numerals II, III, and IV;

The cam moving in the direction of the arrow in the drawings, the shears 1 will suddenly .snap to the position 1. A little later, the open shears 2 will snap in turn to a the position 2' and will be compelled to close b the pin f striking the fixed stop 8, as a ve stated. The continued movement of the cam 10 will cause both of the shears to.

move backward gradually, their roller pivots 6 sliding on theinclined or helical edges 7 of the cam. The closed shears 2 will move from position 2' into position 1,; while the shears 1 are compelled to open by the stationary stop 16, against which the pin strikes, while returning from position 1 to position 1". Both shears thus again have reached their initial positions and also their respective initial open and closed conditions.

The swinging movement of the boxes 3 and 4 aro'uncltlie' shaft 9 is effected by the expansion of a spring motor in a casing 15, said spring being wound up during the former operative steps of the apparatus.

The winding up of said spring is obtained, in the example shown, by a radial shaft 18 provided at one end with a pinion 19 con trolling by means of the intermediate pinion 20 the pinion 21 of the shaft 9, and meshing also with the pinion 22 on the winding shaft ofthe spring in the box 15. I

At the other end, the shaft 18 is provided with the three-tooth or Geneva device 23, co-operating with a suitable rack, comprising teeth 43 on the rotary bottom plate 44: of the knitting machine, so arranged as to give the shaft 18 the successive partial rotations required.

The shaft 18 is provided with a laterallyrojecting retaining-finger 24:, engaging a Exed stop hook 25, and a further laterallyprojecting finger 26 so arranged as to push away, at certain times, the detent 27, co operating with the one orthe other of two ,oppositely extending lugs 28, 28 on the integral cross bar connecting the boxes 3' and 4,

which lugs may or may not be integral with the crossar. The rod 27 is suitably pivoted at 29 upon the supporting-bracket 30'fastened to the knitting-machine body.

-Referring, now, to Figs. 6 and 7, theapparatus is fastened by a bracket 30 anda bolt 31-to the uppercircular table 32. 33 in dicates theneedles and 34 the loop-wheel, the blades of which control the taking of thread by each needle, said loop-wheel being only diagrammatically shown'inthe draw- 'ings.

Said yarns, coming from different bobbins, pass through holes 35 in a horizontal guide-bar 36 adapted to slide alternately in a radial direction with reference to the knitting machine, such movement being sufficient to enable the barto introduce each of the yarns and B, at the proper time, between the gears 37 and 38 of the yarn-feeding device. Then, guided by the rings E, suitably arranged, they pass through holes at the lower ends of guide-rods 39, 40 suspended to oscillate'in vertical planes radially of the knitting machine.

The shears 1 and 2 are provided with fingers 41, 42, respectively, so bent and of such movement, against the guide-rods 39 and,

40 respectively. In Fig. 7, the finger 42 is shown about to contact with the rod 40,; the same would be true for the finger 41 of the shears 1, in connection with the rod 39, after the swinging operation of the connected boxes carrying the shears land 2 has taken place. Thus, when each of the shearsf(say,- 'forexample, the shears 2, Figs. 1 and being open, snaps forward to cut the respective yarn (the yarn A, Fi s. 6 and 7), it will press against the rod of t e other yarn (the rod of the yarn B) and move thel'atter forward away from the path of the blades of said shears, thus preventing the nondesired yarn from being cut by accident.

For the sake ofclearness in the drawings, the yarn-feeding device and guide-rods 39, 40 have been shown a considerable distance apart from each other and from the main structure of the invention, the fingers41, 42 having, therefore, a very considerable len th. It will, however, be understood that al of those members can be very much reduced in size and may be arranged close to each other, so that the circumferential'distance occupied thereby about the periphery ofthe knitting machine is, in practice, very much smaller than indicated in the drawings. l

As said heretofore, the starting of the striping apparatus-is efiected through the Geneva member 23 (F i s, 1, 6 and 7) carried by the inner end of the shaft 18. Said member is operated by the projections 43 of a rack suitably fixed to the lower tnrnin plate 44 of the knitting machine, in suc manner as to co-operate' through its circular path with the member 23. The latter is slidably fitted onto the inner end portion of the shaft 18, and kept in itsf'end position by a spring 45, Fig. 1,wound around said inner end portion, the member 23 being inthis normal position out of the path of the projections in the rack 43.

Any suitable controlling device may be provided-to shift member 23 into the path of projections 43 at the desired time, that is, when the yarn is to be changed from one color-to another. Such device forms no part of the present invention and is not herein shown-0r described.

.The operation of the invention is as follows: With the apparatus in the condition shown in the drawing, yarn ..A of one color is being fed into the knitting machine in the usual manner and the yarn-changing device does not play any part in the operation. However, as soon as a sufficient amount of yarn A has been knitted into the product, the member 23 of the Geneva device will be shifted along the axis of shaft 18 .gages rod 27 and rection by gear 19 through the intermediate gear 20, shears 1 and 2, with their housings 3 and 4, remaining stationary during this movement. As cam 10 begins to rotate, the high portion of cum surface 11' moves out from under pin 6" of shears 1 and allows the shears to be forced forward by spring 5 (see Figs. 2, 3 and 4). The forward movement of shears 1 is stopped by. pin 6 striking the low portion of cam surface 12. Referring to Fig. 6', as shears 1 move forward it-enters under the row of needles 33 and carries with it the end of the inoperative yarn B, and since the yarn v is fed from above the needles, suchj movement will'cause the inoperative yarn to enter the rotating needle row where it will be caught and car? ried on by the needles. Upon further movement of the cam 10, the high portion of surface 12 moves out from-under pin 6 and allows shears 2 to be forced forward by its spring (see Fig. 4, wherein'the arrow indicatcs the direction of travel of the cam). Referring to Fig; 1, the blade 2 of shears 1 is open and as it .moves forward pin 2 "strikes against the stationary stop 8, thereby operatin theshears to cut yarn A and retain the' oose end between its blades. Upon continued movement of the cam in a clockwise direction both shears are withdrawn from their forward positions, and as shears 1 moves back pin 1' strikes a ainst fixed stop 16, thereby opening its lade.

ward orclockwise rotation of member 23, the spring in housing 15 is put under ten-- gear 22 connected with gear 19.

sion b Near t e end of the clockwise movement of shaft 18, the finger'26 carried thereby en-.

of lug 28 carried the shears frame. soon as member '23 housing 15 will begin tounwind and rive Member 23 and projections 43 are so depushes it out of the path As omes free to rotate in an anti-clockwise direction, the sprin in:

tiom Since rod 27'has'been pushed out of anti-clockwise direction along with cam 10, to cause shears 1 and 2 to exchange positions.

The connection between cam 10 and the frame of the shears is-such astoallow the frame to remain stationary while the can the pathof lug 28, the frame of the shears v is free to rotate, andwill be rotated'in an is is rotated in a clock-wise direction, but when thecam rotates in an anti-clockwise direction the frame is carried along with it. This may be any well known one-way drive connection such, for example, as a ratchet and pawl arrangement. WVith the shears in exchanged positions, shears 2 now occupy the osition of shears 1 shown in the drawing and retains the i'rce'end of yarn A between its blades ready to be inserted between'the needles at the proper time, and shears 1 occupy the position of shears 2, shown in the drawing and has its movable blade open ready to cut and withdraw yarn B at the proper time.

, Having thus fully described my invention,

. what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

comprisingtwo pairs of 1. In a circular knitting machine a circular needleirow, a yarn-changing device shears, one of which brings the inoperative cular needle. row, a yarn-changing device comprising two pairs of shears, one of which brings the inoperative yarn to the needles and retires while the other cuts the operative yarn and retains it, the respective functions of the'shears being reversed on the next change of yarn, and mean's'for indeendently advancing and opening and closmg the shears and for simultaneously causingthem to move axially away from the needle row and exchange places.

3.5 In a circular knitting machine a circular needle row, a yarn changing device comprislng two pa rs of shears, one of whlch rings the inoperative yarn to the needles yarn. to the needles J and retires while the other cuts the operative rings the inoperative yarn to the "needles and retires, while the other cuts the opera-.

tive yarn and retains it, the respective'functions of the shears being reversed on the next change of yarn, springs constantly urging forward said shears axially toward the needle row, a cam controlling the position of the shears, means for opening and closing'one blade of each pair of shears ac cording to the position given to the shears by the cam, and means for periodically and simultaneously rotating'the shears about an axis transverse to the needle row.

5. In a circular knitting machine a circular needle row, a yarn-changing device comprising two pairs of shears, one of which brings the inoperative yarn to the needles and retires, while the other cuts the o erative yarn and retains it, the respective unctions of the shears being reversed on the next change of yarn, springs constantly urging forward said shears, a cam controlnormally out of mesh with the rack, a finger on the shaft cooperating with a-stop normally contacting with the shears carrier,

and means for periodically placing the said teeth in the path of the teeth on the rack.

In witness whereof, I' have hereunto signed my name.

FORTUNATO NEVEUX. 

